GTBank Pioneers Social Banking in Nigeria: Banking on Facebook.

PRESS RELEASE

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Lagos, Nigeria: Foremost Nigerian financial institution, Guaranty Trust Bank plc has once again raised the service bar for Nigerian financial institutions with the recent unveil of its ‘Social Banking’ service on Facebook. The new offering which is the first of its kind by any Nigerian Bank allows the public open GTBank accounts and get Customer Service support on Facebook.

 

Speaking about the innovation, Chief Executive Officer of Guaranty Trust Bank plc; Mr. Segun Agbaje said the Bank’s objective is to engage the public where they work, live or play and the new service would enable persons on social networks like Facebook commence a banking relationship and perform transactions 24/7, safely and conveniently, without having to leave the platform.  According to Mr. Agbaje ‘This novel service presently allows people open GTBank accounts and get customer service support on Facebook and in a couple of weeks we will introduce new service options that include money transfers, airtime purchases and bills payments’. He further affirmed that GTBank was committed to the convenience of its stakeholders and the Bank would continue to introduce value adding alternative channels into the future.

Guaranty Trust Bank has been at the forefront of industry innovations within the Nigerian financial service sector over the last 22 years. The Bank is the first Nigerian institution to have recognized online/social channels as an emerging service point and has over 1 million followers on Facebook; the largest for any African Bank. Additionally, the Bank recently introduced GTBank Mobile Money, a highly secure application that allows customers and non GTBank customers perform transfers and payments from their mobile phones to any mobile phone subscriber within the country.

Furthermore, the Bank’s internet banking platform is one of the most robust in the industry, supporting a wide array of service offerings that include bills payments, own and third party transfers and foreign exchange transfers to any bank account in the world. The Bank’s alternative banking channels were given a Payment Card Industry Standards Council (PCISSC) certification late last year, implying that the channels meet acceptable technical and operational requirements to prevent credit card fraud, hacking and other security vulnerabilities.

Guaranty Trust Bank plc was established in 1990 and has within the last 22 years come to be recognized as one of the most innovative and service focused banks in the Nigerian financial market space. The Bank operates from 200 business locations in Nigeria and has banking subsidiaries in Cote D’Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and the United Kingdom.

Communication & External Affairs

Tel: 234-1-2715227

CRSWatch International Magazine Vol 1 Issue 4, 2013.

Grab Your Copies of the new, exciting and highly informative CSRWatch Magazine Vol 1 Issue 4 2013.

 

Read about;

West African Pipelines Company, WAPCo’s claim of a whooping $2million CSR expenditure in Badagry, Lagos

.

 

The Deadly KEMPS cream crackers biscuits.

The Top 20 corporately responsible companies in Nigeria.

Our ‘CSRAcademy’ & The CSR center, Lagos Business School.

Our Focus: GTBank’s Adopt-A-School initiative.

Our authoritative ‘Diary of the societal vulnerable’.

& Our Special exclusive Interview: CEO Etisalat Nigeria, Steven Evans, speaks on the over $500million invested in Nigeria in the last 5years.

 

you cant afford to miss this.

Toxic overload; the executive’s nemesis.

(Standing tall, staying strong and being fit for life.)

With

Kieran Gozie Enechi

enechi2003@yahoo.com

Contrary to popular fad, the worst killers of good radiant health are not the rough things you eat. Surprisingly, they are the bad feelings you feed into the mind. Those are the hidden culprits.

Advanced health sciences have traced the root of all diseases to a disruptive energy pattern in the body, caused by destructive cellular memories that engender wrong tendencies, unhealthy habits and predictable results.

The last three points highlighted above are the reason people deny themselves of radiant health or full restoration of wellness by subjecting their bodies to denatured diet regimen and harmful chemical drinks that do many damage to the body. Add to this, the inhalation of toxic smoke and fumes, insufficient physical exertion in a naturally clean environment; to complete the cycle of destruction by toxic overload.

Bad feelings ignite toxic chemical changes in the body, corrupt and corrode the make good decisions. Like alcohol, it depresses the sense of judgement despite the availability of illuminating information on the matter, tendency or inclination.

Science has recently gone ahead to uncover that really feeling good despite the bad turns in personal or business pursuit of objectives, significantly unleashes the right chemical changes in the enzymes of the body. This in turn stimulates the cells and by connection, the organs and the systems of the body and in effect, the brain for more positive and visible rapid results. (More issues on this topic in our subsequent lectures and publications.)

The world’s best kept secret appears not to be the atomic or nuclear but the healing codes.

The later is more protected than the former but all healing rays emanate from the purest of heights for the sustenance of life and experiencing therein, thus under the inviolable protection of the light through the laws that operate in creation, knowledge for the wellness of man can be mediated without offending or outraging the sensibilities of our neighbours.

A whistle clean health is possible and can be realised in measurable lengths. Restoration of radiant health is a certainty anytime we resolve to eliminate destructive cellular memories from our harassed and harrowing body system. When we do this; the roots of all the puffy eyes, drooping cheeks, aching bones and joints, putrefied intestinal waste matter, unexplained swelling, rough skin, bad breath, heart, blood, and other ailments, will naturally melt away, and cannot return except allowed. If we do this, we will be left with only the symptoms of ill-health that has no root feeding its branches. Nature cure will then wean the body to an admirable level of wellness.

Having identified the root and been removed, we can then proceed to specific and successful nature cure sure-fire tips for resounding levels of wellness applicable to different ailments and diseased conditions. Some of the things your favourite doctor either by innocent omission or by commission has not yet let you know of. Starting with executive toxic overload, and of course, your specific questions – which are most welcome? (More issues on subsequent discourse.)

Nature cure is today the application of and adjustment to a simple, natural way of life and living with the aim of raising the bar of wellbeing by eliminating disease-causing conditions. One of such conditions as shown is allowing bad experiences sink in, your experiences when they sink in are not just stored in the cerebellum or the section of the brain known as the hippocampus. Experiences input itself into the fine cells of the body forming a chain of cellular memories that bring resultant physical effects depending on its contents.

How can all these highlighted health problems be handled; and other situations, to bring back our immune systems to normalcy for our life’s sake? That exactly is where the definitive and immensely helpful tips spoken of will light up the way starting from the approaching festive week.

2012 NASSMAC SPECIAL SERIES

 

‘We have achieved our objectives in Nassmac’

After 12 years of sponsoring the Cowbell National Mathematics Competition (Nassmac), Chief Keith Richards, managing director of Promasidor Nigeria Limited in this special interview says it has not been a wasted investment.

 

Focus on mathematics

If you go back and look at our products and our consumers, our products are consumed in a family environment, so all of our CSR, not just National Secondary Schools Mathematics Competition (Nassmac), all of our CSR focus on the family, children, mothers, health and nutrition and also their education because you are not just feeding the body, you are also feeding the mind. So around 14 years ago, when we were looking for an area to focus our CSR, we started developing the cowbell mathematics competition, of course the first two years was in Lagos and later it was made a national project about 12 years ago, but it is still within our area of core competence.

 

Objectives achieved

Yes of course we have achieved our objectives. If you track the performance of students in the West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE) in the last 10 years, you will see that there has been improvement in the number of credit passes in mathematics and a drop in the failure rate. That can be attributed to the effect Nassmac is having on students because each year the number of students registering to participate in Nassmac keeps increasing as more and more schools are getting interested, our exam centres have increased, in fact this year, the first stage exams were held in 200 centres across Nigeria. That shows the kind of interest in mathematics we have been able to generate through this competition and that is one of our major objectives. We have also responded by increasing the number and value of the prizes we give our winners.

 

The impact

The research we do is with the national mathematics centre, they do the research and we work with them and that is how we know how mathematics result in WASSCE is doing. We partner with them because it is their responsibility to monitor the progress of mathematics in Nigeria. In terms of the brand, we do in our corporate research, in our brand research, we do evaluate the impact and it is pretty clear that in our target group which is the family, you have children in schools, mums that are looking after the family, they do recognize cowbell and promasidor as a responsible brand and company and this reflects positively on the brand.

 

A worthwhile Investment

Of course it is. The reason I know is that when I sit in those competitions and you see the number of children that have done extra mathematics, for example, this year we are targeting 60,000 students, last year we had 34,000 students. Most schools in an effort to select their representatives organize a quiz or test for their students so as to select those that will represent the school. So we believe that as many as 400,000 or 500,000 students actually did extra mathematics to prepare for this competition. So if that many kids are actually doing more maths, that has to be a good thing for improving their mind and for the development of a key skill for the progression of the Nigerian youth for employment for development of the country.

 

Winners from the elite schools

We try very hard to make sure we have the widest possible outreach. And of course an ideal would be that we have a complete mix where there is ethnic, geographical, gender and also economic balance in the winnings, but ultimately, we are not manipulating it they have to do the exams, so the winners reflect those that are good in mathematics. Now what we are doing and one of the reasons why we have been expanding, like this year we are in 200 centres, that means we are not just doing centres in Ikoyi and Victoria Island and Abuja, we are really moving out across the country and getting a cross section of the students from public schools, private schools and across the geographical areas because we want winners to reflect as wide as possible. But you know not all parents can afford to send their children to the best schools, and there tend to be a bias in the winning towards those children in the best schools because the failure of state education in Nigeria penalizes a majority of Nigerians in favour of those who can afford to pay for their education. And that is the reality. But because of the way we do it, we do everything we can do to democratize the competition.

 

National Awards in Abuja

We hold the examination in all the states and we do the award ceremonies in Abuja because that’s where we can get the most exposure and we also invite special guests in the person of the minister for education and other senior people from the government and the national mathematics centre. it would be easier to get them to attend if it is in Abuja than if it were in any other state.

 

Exams without expo

We are engaging with NEO Media who are very professional and they have handled the exams for a number of years, it comes back to the issue of consistency. We also work closely with the states ministries of education and the federal ministry of education as well as the national mathematics centre. We have 42 depots around the country, we have a large sales force and we can utilize and mobilize those resources at the exam centres. You will see our sales force acting as invigilators, they make sure that the envelops are sealed when they are released at the exam centres and when the answer scripts are collected. It is such a huge logistic operation.

 

Nassmac 2012

We have increased the venue and we are targeting 50,000 students. An interesting thing that we have done this year is putting the past questions on our website to assist students with their preparations. As usual we will sponsor winners to represent Nigeria in the mathematics Olympiad.

One of the things that Promasidor as a group do is, there is a college group, the African Leadership Academy and it was set up by Africans from around the continent but it is based in Johannesburg, South Africa, they take very bright students and they develop them for high end academic development, these are really really bright African students. We sponsored two and the first one that we sponsored, at the age of 17 was offered places in Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Oxford, she was really brilliant, I think she chose Yale. When they are looking for really bright scholars around Africa, they use Cowbell mathematics competition as one of their ways of helping to identify bright kid particularly from families who cannot afford to send their kid abroad. The academy helps to arrange sponsors for them. So there is a number of ways that we keep in touch with our past winners.

 

Other initiatives

Nassmac is our flagship programme and the biggest of our community development initiatives in terms of the resources we put in it, but we do a lot of other things. For example, we focus a lot in schools, we have our reward for excellence programme. This year, in over 3,000 schools, we will do the reward for excellence under the cowbell chocolate banner and that is at the end of terms and year, we give special prizes to children for great academic achievement, sports and good morals, we also reward the teachers. We also do a lot in sports, we sponsor the popular animal game, which is always fun, we sponsor rugby, a sports that is developing in Nigeria, we are working with the Nigerian Rugby Federation to develop rugby in schools. We also do the Para-soccer.

Then we do things with our local community, here in Isolo, we put street lights, we have donated medical equipment particularly focusing on pre and post natal care. On a wider basis we have supported pediatric care, most recently we gave incubators and equipment to University College Hospital Ibadan, we have done one recently in Imo State. We also respond to emergency disaster relief with our products.

You don’t do these things because you want to wave a flag and say come see what I am doing, you do them because they are the right things to do. You don’t do them because you want reward from government or the community, the interesting thing is, our staff and our managers, get a good vibe for being part of the company, it gives them a sense of pride.

Again when you do these things you would be seen as a responsible organization, you work closely with regulatory bodies like Consumer Protection Council (CPC) , Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), National Agency for Foods and Drug Administration and Control (Nafdac) and so on. They know who you are, they know you are responsible and you have a better relationship with them. When you are recruiting new staff or managers they know that you are a responsible company.

We do spend a lot of money, we do spend a lot of time, Nassmac is our largest CSR programme and I think we can legitimately claim that in terms the principles of CSR, a genuinely good corporate citizen, I think we can be as good as anybody in Nigeria today.

 

Selection and Sustainability of projects

As soon as you get reorganized as a company doing CSR, you get so many requests. The pile of requests on my desk is quite high ranging from building borehole, to roads and so many other things. And because of the failure of government to live up to its responsibility, everybody is reaching out to anybody else to provide those services. So you have to make a choice based on your focus and what can be sustainable because a good CSR has to be focused, it has to be consistent and it has to be sustainable. So we focus on family, that is where we are concentrating, family in its widest sense. We try not to do one off event, except in the case of disaster. But generally speaking, we look at things that can last, Nassmac is 14 years still going, Para-soccer is now eight years, Animal games is five. So we try to be consistent and the other thing is sustainable, you can only do what you can afford, if you have money this year you do more, next year you don’t, it is not providing a sustainable link with the community. But it is really tough, until government begin to provide social services especially in health and education, there is going to be the need for corporate bodies to step in to do things that in other countries government can be relied upon to do.

 

CSR in-house

It comes in a number of ways, the first thing that we do in terms of salaries, remuneration and benefits, we benchmark ourselves against all of our peers, other multinationals to make sure we are in the upper quartile of remuneration and benefits and in fact we give more than that. Our welfare package is very competitive. The unions will always ask for more and sometimes less than healthy, we dialogue with them and that is natural. But there are a number of other things that we do, we have won several prizes for our environmental standard, our work environment for our workers, for example, we are spending $1.5million air-conditioning the factories to make sure the working temperature is acceptable. We are just building a new canteen it has been designed to be in compliance with food regulations and create a conducive environment for our workers to eat.

And in terms of our waste disposal, we have state of the art effluent treatment plant for our liquid waste and we are working closely with government on the disposal of solid waste.

So in terms of internal CSR, we strive to implement best practices as well.

 

Behold the state champions

 

With the release of the result of the first stage examination in the 2012 edition of the Cowbell National Secondary Schools Mathematics Competition (Nassmac), the battle ground has shifted to the second and final stage examination which holds on June 9 2012 in the six geo-political zones.

The results show wonderful performances from kids in states like Rivers, Ogun, Benue, Ekiti, Imo, Lagos, Kano and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja where candidates scored 90 per cent and above.

In fact the states to watch in this year’s competition are Rivers and Ogun States. In Rivers, the junior candidate made 99 percent. He is from Charles Dale Memorial International School, the same school that emerged national champions last year in the junior category showing that they are not yet ready to let go of that first position and the senior from Graceland International School PortHarcourt, made 90 per cent. Graceland was national champions in the junior category in 2009.

In Ogun, the junior from Ota Total Academy, the school that emerged national champions in the senior category in 2007, made 97 per cent while his senior colleague from Iganmode Grammar School also of Ota, the school that produced last year’s national champion in the senior category made 96 per cent.

From all indications, the best performers are schools that have won at one time or the other showing that at the end of each competition, schools that made it to the award ceremony return to their schools with a vow to win the next competition.

The list of the state winners are here displayed for you to know your maths whizkids.

 

 

 

Akwa Ibom

Junior                                                                                          Obj   Theo  Total

Effiong Etim Effiong, Govt. Sec. Sch., Afaha, Eket M                 74,        14      88

SNR

Imeh Victor Okon, Beulah Int’l Sch., Ekom Iman M                      60         19     79

 

Anambra

Junior

Obiekwe Olisaemeka Wisdom, St. Paul uni. Sch., Nibo- Nise M     68       13      81

SNR

Chukwubueze Promise, Bishop Crowther Seminary, Awka M          66        20     86

 

Bauchi

Junior

Jibril Aliyu Shehu, Islamic Orientation Sec. Sch, Azare M               40         11     51

SNR

Zakka Mbishow Immaculate Conception, Gubi Dam Road M            48        15     63

 

Bayelsa

Junior

Okarinya Siso Biobelemoye, Belary Schools, Imirigi Road F              38        18     56

SNR

Ibaba Ledum Ayibaemi, Belary mont jnr. Sch. & col, Imiringi Rd M  48        17      65

 

Benue

Junior

Akor Emmanuel Akor, Calvary Arrows College, Aliade, Gboko M       74       19       93

SNR

Akuhwa Fater, Calvary Arrows College, Aliade Gboko M                     66       17        83

 

Cross River

Junior

Udobang Joshua Jacob, Govt. Sec. School, Uwanse M                            60        13       73

SNR

Chris-Okoro Chigozirim Nnamdi, Access High Schs, Henshaw Layout M

68         19       87

 

DELTA

Junior

Asarhasa Victor Ufuoma, College of Edu. Dem. Sec. Sch., Warri M      74         10       84

 

EDO

SNR

Agha Ifechukwude, Oregbeni Estate Sec. School, Benin City M          68        20      88

 

EKITI

Junior

Malachi Olaoluwa Petoa, City College, Ekute Ado-Ekiti M                 76        15       91

SNR

Olorunfemi Gabriel Christ School Snr. Secondary, Ado Ekiti M         56         19       75

 

ENUGU

Junior

Okeke Chidera Onyedika Mea Matre Elizabeth High Sch, Agbani M  68         12       80

 

SNR

Idika Uduma U. A. UNN Sec. Sch., Enugu campus M                          58         17       75

 

GOMBE

Junior

Bappah Babangida Jibwis, Islamic Sci. Sec. Sch., commercial area M 52        10        62

SNR

Nchoro Trust Donald, Zenith Int’l Integrated College, Doma M           62        10        72

 

Imo

Junior

Adolalom Obinna, Living Word Academy Sec. Sch, Mbakwe Road M 74       18        92

SNR

Amaechi Daisy Udochi, Federal Govt. Girls College, Owerri F              54       16       70

 

Jigawa

Junior

Garba Koli, Sa’adatu Girls’ Junior Science Sec. School, Guri F               28        7       35

SNR

Abdulkarim Abubakar Sci. Sec. Sch., Kafin Hausa, Dutse M                   50       19      69

 

Kaduna

Junior

Rabiu Shamsudeen, NITC Kaduna Boys, Rigachukunkmis, Kaduna M  58       14     72

SNR

Ibrahim Ismail Adamu, NITC Boys College, Rigachukun M                    70        20    90

 

KANO

Junior

Bdullahi .S. Ahmad, Govt. S. S. S., Warure Gwale M                                78        20    98

SNR

Aniobi Tobias Henry, Nigerian Turkish Int’l College, Ring Road M          72        14    86

 

Kogi

Junior

Raji Arafat Muzammil, ASCL Staff Comp. Sec. Sch 1, Ajaokuta M       64         8       72

SNR

Onimisi Benedict, Christ The Good Shepherd Academy, Anyingba M     70       18      88

 

Kwara

Junior

Okunola Toluwani, Effective International College, Tanke F                     64       10     74

SNR

Akerekan Olayinka, Baptist Model High School, Gbagba Ilorin M             64       18     82

 

Lagos

Junior

Okwunze Kenechukwu, Apostolic Faith Secondary School, Anthony M     74       16    90

SNR

Akinjide James Ayokunle, The Learning Field, Satellite Town M               70       20    90

 

Nasarawa

Junior

Aliyu Joan Ovaoiza, Brightway International Sch, Nasarawa                       46        7      53

SNR

Godwin Uchenna, Federal Government College, Keffi M                             46       16    62

 

Niger

Junior

Midala Hyellamurti, Police Secondary School, Minna F                               52       12    64

SNR

Shodipo Ahmed Ajibola, Federal Governnent Academy, Niger M                60       20    80

 

Ogun

Junior

Akintokun S. Adegboyega, Ota Total Academy, Ota M                                80      17    97

SNR

Uwa Benjamin, Iganmode Grammar School , Idi Roko M                              76      20   96

 

Ondo

Junior

Akinwande Boye, Greater Tomorrow College, Ikare-Ajowa Road M             76      11   87

SNR

Arotiba Blessing, Greater Tommorow College, Ikare, Ondo State F               66      17   83

 

Osun

Junior

Omole Ayobami Omobonike, Bibo-Oluwa Academy, Lekoja Ilesa F            74      18   92

 

Plateau

SNR

Akinola Daniel Mojola, Baptist High School, Jos M                                 50      20      70

 

Rivers

Junior

Douglas Leslie, Charles Dale Mem. College, Gwuruta, P/H M                80      19      99

SNR

Shorinwa Olaoluwa, Graceland Int`l School, Liberation Rd., P/H M       72      18      90

 

*Sokoto

Junior

Aminu Bashir Jawad, Blue Crescent Schools, Mabera M                        42       13      55

SNR

Aniebonam Valentine, Royal Comprehensive Sch, Dendo Rd M            42      18       60

 

Taraba

Junior

Obadiah Emo, Rhema Christian Academy, UMCN, Kofai M                  50      18       68

SNR

*Samuel Esther Rhema Christian Academy,Umcn Kofai F                      44      14       58

 

Zamfara

Junior

Saifullahi Ahmad Musa Govt. Day Sec. Sch, tsunami Gusau M              30       8        38

SNR

Mustapha Abdulkadir Hbk Academy Gusau,Tudunwada, Zamfara M     44       5        49

 

FCT

Junior

Henry Ohunene Anastatia, Regina Pacis College, Lakin Garki F             76       15       91

SNR

Aikodon Nosa, Nigeria Turkish International, Wuse 2 M                         72        20      92

 

 

CSR here should be community development driven!

by Oke Enechi

 

Ada is her parent’s last child and so much loved by them. Today, she is having fever but the parents, very poor cannot afford to take her to any nearby health center. As the desperation of the mother continues to increase, the father remembered he bought a medicine at the last market day – a black liquid concoction in a bottle. The seller popularly known as “doctor” in the village market claims it cures every ailment including jaundice in a day old baby. He smiled and gave the bottle to the wife. “I bought it from the doctor at the last market day, give her, I believe she will be ok”, he told her. The wife looked at him calmly and took the bottle from him. She also believes in the ‘efficacy’ of the medicine. One of her friends told her once of the ability of “doctor’s” medicines.

Quickly she administered the dark liquid to the baby. But after one hour, the fever increased. Terrified! They have no option but to rush her to the village health center and see if the nurse there can treat the baby while they pay later. On the way to the health center, the baby died.

The baby would have lived if the parents had treated mosquito nets to protect her against mosquito bites. The child would have been saved if there is a micro health insurance targeting the poor that provides a safety net for them – Ada would have been rushed to the hospital in the first place without any hesitation.

Beautiful Ada would have been living, playing with her mates if NAFDAC is active in the rural areas to arrest and prosecute merchants of death such as “doctor”. Ada would have been living if companies are executing targeted CSR projects in the rural areas providing health education, developing innovative micro health insurance products and providing health facilities such as treated mosquito nets etc. But all these did not happen and she died.

But in faraway cities, in good hotels and good office complexes, business executives and their employees are busy thinking of ways of coming in to help out in promoting good health. But they waste precious time arguing about the conceptual differences that exist between corporate social responsibility, corporate social investment and corporate philanthropy while the societal vulnerable suffer untold hardship including death daily. Yes, conceptually there are differences. But does it really matter? Corporate social responsibility (CSR) according to a study conducted by GTZ in conjunction with other institutions on the factors that promotes or hinders CSR in sub-Sahara Africa, is viewed as “accountability of companies, to both share-holders and stakeholders, for their utilisation of resources, for their means of production, for their treatment of workers and consumers, for their impact on the social and ecological environment in which they operate and for the way in which they exercise their legislative and fiduciary duties” and the same report view the concept of Corporate social investment (CSI) as “the way in which companies care for the well-being of the social and ecological environment of the communities in which they operate. To this end they invest, in a variety of ways, in the advancement of certain socially and/or environmentally defined needs, projects or causes extraneous to their regular business activities”. Corporate philanthropy is an act of corporations donating part of their profits to NGOs to execute projects for the benefit of the society. That is why I find the piece on the corporate philanthropy and corporate social responsibility reproduced from the CSR Academy in the last edition of this magazine very interesting. The differences in my opinion are rather blurred and the societal vulnerable do not see these differences rather they look forward to anybody – be it corporation or any other organisation – that can help to improve their lives. And this is where the view of Dayo George, the Head of CSR & Communications, BAT, West Africa that “CSR is not just about community development, it is a total package and it is the totality of what you do internally to drive sustainability”, becomes very instructive. The truth is that CSR is viewed as a community development here because of our state of development. This view seems to be confirmed by a study conducted in 2009 by GTZ on the factors that promotes and hinders CSR in Sub-Sahara Africa, where it was found that most of the ‘would be’ beneficiaries of CSR projects in Sub Saharan countries surveyed prefer community development projects. Also another study conducted by Jantzi Sustainalytics strongly highlighted the role of multinational companies in realization of the MDGs in the sub-Sahara Africa. USAID also argue in one of their documents that the business community has a very critical role to play by providing “tremendous contributions in promoting good health and well-being” of the society. These views strongly suggest that CSR in our part of the world should be community development driven.

In my view, companies rather than discuss the differences, need to urgently blend the three conceptual models if they really want to make an impact with their CSR. There is no point dissipating energy on the conceptual differences of corporate social responsibility, corporate philanthropy and corporate social investment when there is much they can do to be of help to the society where they operate and earn profit. The societal vulnerable wants to see a project that will impact on their life and don’t care whatever names you call it.

Various News on the Environment “2”. by Kolawole Ilori

Survey predicts brighter future for sustainable product marketing

 

If you build it, they will come. That’s the message behind a new research study conducted by shopper marketing and industry insight experts, Ryan Partnership Chicago and Mambo Sprouts Marketing, which shows health and eco-consumers want one universal green score to help them make sustainable product buying decisions.

New survey findings published in the One Green Score for One Earth sustainability research white paper suggest shoppers would increase sustainable product spending if only they could determine which products were truly green and which had been simply green-washed.

“We know that consumer commitment to earth-friendly products is increasing,” says Christine Nardi Diette, president of Ryan Partnership Chicago. “But all of the green messaging is creating more confusion than confidence. Consumers are challenging manufacturers and retailers to be clear about their commitment to sustainability.”

According to the study, health and eco-conscious consumers say that a universal product sustainability score would influence their brand purchase decisions. Research findings indicate just how strong the demand is for such a score and how consumers would prefer the rating system to work.

 

AT&T to use plant plastic in accessory packaging

 

AT&T has announced plans to introduce new plastic in AT&T-branded accessory packaging, which is composed of up to 30 percent plant-based materials sourced from

ethanol harvested from natural sugarcane. The sugarcane used in this plant plastic is a rapidly renewable agricultural crop and replaces nearly a third of the fossil fuels traditionally used in this accessory packaging with material made from plants.

The adoption of the new plastic is part of AT&T’s broader overall commitment to minimize its environmental impact. In March of 2010 the company announced its plans to slim down their accessory packaging; in 2010 and 2011, the company eliminated the use of over 500 tons of paper and plastic in that packaging.

Customers can expect to see the transition to the new packaging in stores and online starting October 2, 2011. The plastic will be used in packaging for AT&T-branded wireless accessories, which includes most device cases and power accessories.

“As a company we are committed to minimizing our own environmental impact, and we see the introduction of this plant-based plastic as an important step in the right direction,” said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president for devices, AT&T. “We are excited to be the first U.S. telecom company to use this plastic in our packaging and we hope other companies will join us in finding ways to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. We are actively working with our accessory suppliers to incorporate both less packaging and more sustainable plastic and paper.”

Prior advancements in AT&T’s efforts to reduce waste and minimize the overall environmental impact of accessory packaging include using soy and/or vegetable-based ink and recycled paperboard

AT&T is committed to integrating sustainable business practices across its business and was recently added to Corporate Responsibility Magazine’s 12th Annual 100 Best Corporate Citizens List. AT&T was also included in the 2010 Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (DJSI) and in Carbon Disclosure Project’s (CDP) 2010 Carbon Disclosure Leadership Index (CDLI).

 

 

KIV

Entergy Corporation leads in sustainability for 10 years

 

For the 10th straight year, Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) has been recognized as a leader in sustainability, ranking among the best in climate strategy, corporate governance, occupational health and safety, price and risk management, and scorecard measurements.

Entergy was named to the 2011-12 Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index, one of only 13 U.S. utilities included on that list. DJSI North America evaluates the largest North American companies based on long-term economic, environmental and social criteria.

 

Entergy has been included on either the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index or DJSI North America every year since 2002.

 

“We could not be more proud of Entergy being named among the sustainability leaders for what is now 10 years in a row,” said J. Wayne Leonard, chairman and chief executive officer of Entergy Corporation. “It’s objective validation that our work to integrate sustainable business principles into our business model continues to pay dividends to the environment, our customers and our shareholders.”

 

Companies are selected for the index based on a comprehensive assessment of long-term economic, environmental and social criteria that account for general as well as industry-specific sustainability trends.

 

The DJSI North America selects the top 20 percent in terms of sustainability from each industry sector of the 600 biggest North American companies on the Dow Jones Global Total Stock Market Index. The results were announced by SAM, an investment firm focused on sustainability investing, together with Dow Jones Indexes.

 

Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 15,000 employees.

 

Entergy.com

Diageo Publishes 2012 Online Sustainability & Responsibility Report

Submitted by: Diageo

LONDON. Diageo, the world’s leading premium drinks business, publishes its 2012 Sustainability & Responsibility Report, its 10th report since 2003. The report highlights progress and aspirations across the company’s key sustainability impacts including alcohol in society, water and the environment, socio-economic development, people, and governance and ethics. To cover Diageo’s full value chain, the report has sections covering work with and impact on suppliers, customers and consumers.

At each stage of our value chain, we seek to maximise our positive impacts, creating value for our stakeholders while improving our own performance. For Diageo, the two are inextricably linked – our company’s future success depends on our ability today to contribute positively to society and the environment. We call this ‘Celebrating life, today and tomorrow.’

Commenting on this year’s report and Diageo’s future-looking approach, Paul Walsh, CEO, said: ‘Driving strong performance in sustainability and responsibility is in the long-term interests of our company. It helps ensure that we can both deliver returns to shareholders and benefit the communities whose lives we touch. It is my firm belief that the most genuinely strategic and forward looking businesses treat sustainability as a core component of business delivery.’

Highlights from this year’s report include:

Supported over 300 programmes to tackle alcohol misuse in 49 countries around the world
Refreshed Diageo’s digital marketing code and trained all relevant marketers to ensure the highest standards for responsible marketing on-line
Reduced carbon emissions from our operations by 9.4% despite increasing production
Improved water efficiency by 7.2%, and reduced the amount of water used at water-stressed sites by 8.6%
Trained over 63,000 people in our Learning for Life programme since 2008 with 70-80% of students securing employment upon graduation
Supported 200 projects since 2006 that provide access to safe drinking water for people in Africa with a goal of reaching eight million people by 2015
Invested £2.6 million in social entrepreneurs across the world this year through the Arthur Guinness Fund and our Champions for Change programme in Asia
Initiated a pilot project to develop a scalable sorghum value chain in partnership with the government of Tanzania.

Diageo’s Sustainability & Responsibility Report 2012 is available on an interactive website http://srreport2012.diageoreports.com/ . We welcome and appreciate any feedback. Please email csr@diageo.com or fill out the survey included in the report.

About Diageo

Diageo is the world’s leading premium drinks business with an outstanding collection of beverage alcohol brands across spirits, wines and beer categories. These brands include Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, JεB, Buchanan’s, Windsor and Bushmills whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Baileys, Captain Morgan, Jose Cuervo, Tanqueray and Guinness.

Diageo is a global company, with its products sold in more than 180 countries around the world. The company is listed on both the New York Stock Exchange (DEO) and the London Stock Exchange (DGE). For more information about Diageo, its people and its brands, visit http://www.diageo.com. For Diageo’s global resource that promotes responsible drinking through the sharing of best practice tools, information and initiatives, visit http://www.DRINKiQ.com.